The Two Roads Brewing Company has something going for them that many newer breweries don't have - industry experience.

The Stafford, Conn., brewery was founded in 2012 by Brad Hittle, former chief marketing officer at Pabst; Clem Pellani, who worked in marketing at both Labatt USA and Rolling Rock; and Phil Markowski, who is also the brewer and the former head brewer at the Southampton Public House and the New England Brewing Company. He wrote the book, "Farmhouse Ales."

Now, Two Roads has announced that they will begin distributing its beers to Massachusetts beginning on Aug. 28.

The cumulative experience has helped Two Roads come out of the gate strong, Hittle said.

"I think we went in with our eyes wide open," he said. "We knew a lot of the pitfalls - not all of them - but a lot of them. And Phil, from a brewing standpoint, is so with it. Some of the beers he has come out with so far have been amazing."

Not only does Two Roads brew its own beers, they contract brew for numerous breweries, including Stillwater Artisanal Ales, Evil Twin, Keegan Ales and City Steam, Hittle said.

As for Two Roads beers, they brew five year-round beers, four seasonals and other special releases.

The five year-round beers include the Road 2 Ruin Double IPA, a 7.6 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) double IPA with a lot of apricot and citrus aroma from the hops.

"It's not a palate buster," said Hittle. "You can have more than one. One of Phil's mantra is to prove a beer with balance so you can enjoy the beer."

Other year round beers is Worker's Comp, a saison made with coriander that comes in at 4.8 percent ABV; Ol' Factory Pilsner, a classic German pilsner and No Limits, a German hefeweizen.

The final year-round beer is the Honey Spot Road, a different take on a white IPA. While most white IPAs blend Belgian wits and IPA, the Two Roads version uses the American wheat style instead of Belgian wit.

"Phil didn't want the yeast and spice of a Belgian wheat to compete with the hops," said Hittle. "It's really delicious. It's my favorite beer of all of them."

The four seasonals are Road Mary's Baby (fall), which is a rum barrel-aged pumpkin ale; Route of All Evil (winter), a hybrid of a porter and a black IPA; Rye 95 (spring), 9.5 percent ABV Belgian triple brewed brewed with rye; and Road Jam (summer), a wheat beer with lemon grass and raspberries.

"We use 100 percent real fruit, not extract," said Hittles. "It's really dry and refreshing. It's dark, almost purple in color, and it's really incredible how refreshing it is."

Two Roads also brews the Road Less Traveled series, which includes more esoteric or high alcohol beers. Beers have included Igor's Dream, a 10.9 percent ABV Russian imperial stout aged in rye whiskey barrels; Kentucky Lighting, which features a sour mash blended with a regular mash and then aged in a bourbon barrel; and Crazy Pucker, a Berliner weiss.

Page 2 of 2 - Hittle said Two Roads is looking forward to being in Massachusetts.

"We've had a lot of accounts from up there contact us in the last year and we're really looking forward to working with them," said Hittile. "It's really important for us to work and to get up there and have fun. We're really excited."

Email Norman Miller at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut. Follow him on Twitter at @realbeernut. Also check out "Norman Miller, The Beer Nut" on Facebook.